35-year-old Joao Sousa has retired from professional tennis after nearly 16 years in the sport. The Portuguese player has had a decorated enough career, winning 4 ATP titles. The Estoril Open 2024 was his last tournament but he lost to Arthur Fils of France by 5-7, 4-6 in the Round of 32.
After the match, as it was curtains on Sousa’s career, the Estoril crowd gave him and resounding standing ovation. Joao Sousa’s distinction remains that he is the first Portuguese player to win an ATP title on home soil. This happened in 2018, at the Estoril Open itself, when he defeated Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 6-4 in the final.
Joao Sousa has defeated some top players in the game who have been ranked above him, here are 5 of those –
Alexander Zverev
Joao Sousa played against Alexander Zverev only twice in his career. The first time was at the 2016 Open de Nice Cote d’Azur, where Sousa lost. The next time was at the 2018 Indian Wells when Sousa defeated Zverev in the second round of the tournament.
Zverev was the World No.5 player at the time, and Sousa won 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 against him. After two close-fought sets, Sousa was too tough for Zverev to beat in the final one. Zverev, who has a few unwanted records to his name, added this one as well.
Dominic Thiem
Joao Sousa has lost 7 times against Dominic Thiem in his career. He has, however, defeated the Spanish player once. It was in 2015 at the St. Petersburg Open. Sousa had reached the semi-finals after winning against Marcel Granollers, and Simone Bolelli.
His opponent was Dominic Thiem in the semi-final. Sousa won the first set against Thiem, 6-4. In the second set, Thiem applied pressure, which ended up levelling the match. Eventually, Sousa won 7-6 (7-5). It marked a rare win over Dominic Thiem for Joao Sousa.
Daniil Medvedev
Joao Sousa defeated Daniil Medvedev in their first-ever meeting in the 2018 Estoril Open. Sousa won that title and in the first round, he beat the future US Open winner. Both the sets were hard-fought, but Sousa won them 7-6 (7-1), 7-5.
Frances Tiafoe
Joao Sousa defeated Frances Tiafoe twice in his career. The first one was in the 2018 Estoril Open, where he won 6-4, 6-4. After that, it was at the 2019 Rome Masters. There, Sousa had won 6-3, 6-7 (3-6), 7-6 (7-4).
Stefanos Tsitsipas
In their only meeting so far, Joao Sousa had beaten Stefanos Tsitsipas. This was again at the 2018 Estoril Open, a historic tournament for Sousa, where he won 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4) against the Greek star in the semi-final. After winning the first set, Sousa lost to an exceptionally skilled Tsitsipas, humiliatingly at 1-6. The third and final set created intrigue and the match that went into tiebreakers matched the hype.
Eventually, Sousa won it, as he couldn’t be touched by some of the biggest names in tennis in that tournament.
